The Wild Ones: The Erotic Photography of Mel Roberts - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1883923506 ISBN 13: 9781883923501

Publisher: FotoFactory Press, 2001

Synopsis

Remember the free-lovin' days of anything goes sexual escapades, bell-bottom-wearing boys with feathered hair on the verge of manhood, the drug-soaked '60s and '70s? Thanks to the brilliant and beautifully color-saturated images of photographer Mel Roberts, it all becomes crystal clear just how saucy and stylish the boys were back then. In this new book, California Boys: The Wild Ones, Mel Roberts delivers truckloads of groovy, Age of Aquarius boys posing for the camera absolutely naked. Let the sunshine in...

If you've got a thing for yesteryear's studs with raging erections in everything from tight, cock-showcasing pants to mesh tanks, this book's for you. Honoring the 78-year-old photographer's practice of selling photographs exclusively through the post, FotoFactory Press is offering this, his second book via mail order only. Very limited quantities have been printed, so order your copy today. A truly unique hard-to-find gift for yourself or that special friend.

About this title

From the Publisher:

In the summer of 1996, when I was visiting California and contemplating relocating to the Golden State, an installation by Mel Roberts at a San Diego art gallery seduced me. Roberts arranged a small room in the gallery to appear like the private quarters of a randy youth. Photographs and nudie magazines were scattered around the furnishings and floor. His photographs of naked men were displayed in ordinary picture frames as if snap shots of the occupant's friends. (I would later learn that Roberts' models were, in fact, his friends and lovers.) The vibrant colors and clarity of his images, and the "care free" expressions of the young men in the photographs were like no other. I was determined to meet Mel.

It was over a simple spaghetti dinner at Roberts' Bel Air home years later that this book and the companion exhibition began to take shape. Mel began to unwrap negatives and transparencies, which had not been seen for over 30 years. His photographs were so well executed and composed that they required no cropping or digital enhancement. None of the photographs in his first book, California Boys: Photographs from the 1960s and 1970s (FotoFactory Press, 2000) have been cut or altered in anyway. As in this book, a few contain slight defects and scratches created by Roberts himself, caused by the crude dark room he used. During this era, commercial labs would not develop and process photographs of nude men, so he had to develop the film himself. The passing of time has also had its effect on his original material as is evident in the enhanced grain in plate 27 & plate 192.

California Boys: The Wild Ones contains many photographs confiscated by the Los Angeles Police Department in the late 1970s. While eventually most of these photographs were returned, the following two pages contain eight photographs in which the original source material was lost or damaged beyond use. These intimate photographs have been reproduced herein using the last surviving prints in Roberts' archive. Precious, these images can once again be seen. All the other photographs in this book have been reproduced from the original negatives or transparencies, which Mel lovingly processed with his own hands, so that others could see his California. See California Boys, for a wonderful introduction to Mel's work and a detailed biography of his photographic career and personal life.

While the reproductions in these books are beautiful, the enlarged Cibachrome prints made from Mel's original transparencies and titled in his own script are marvelous to view. The David Aden Gallery in Venice Beach, California maintains an extensive collection of his work. Mel's photograph of Sean Patrick, plate 103, was taken on the beach just blocks from where the Gallery is today.

The vibrant colors and breathtaking beauty of these photographs continue to reflect the pioneering spirit and joy of life that is evident in Mel's life to this day. Mel Roberts celebrates his 79th year in 2002.

Thank you, Mel

About this edition

• Publisher: FotoFactory Press
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 1883923506
• ISBN 13: 9781883923501
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 203
• Editor: David Sprigle